Pair Of Revenge Games vs. Hawai'i And UC Irvine Up Next For UC Riverside Men's Basketball

February 13	7 pm PT	vs. Hawai'i	Fox Sports 1350 AM	Big West TV	Listen Live	Live Stats	Call (951) 827-4653 For Tickets
February 15	7 pm PT	at UC Irvine	Fox Sports 1350 AM	Big West TV	Listen Live	Live Stats	Purchase Tickets
					Game Notes

Riverside—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team is looking to erase the memories of two of the team's toughest defeats of the season—a 100-69 loss at Hawai'i on January 18 (box score/recap) and a 72-52 defeat vs. UC Irvine on January 11 (box score/recap). UCR hosts the Rainbow Warriors on Thursday, February 13, before traveling to face the Anteaters on Saturday, February 15. Both games tip off at 7 pm PT.

UC Riverside split its two Big West games last week, beating Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, 72-69 (box score/recap), while falling to Long Beach State on Saturday, 88-76 (box score/recap). That improved the Highlanders record to 8-15 overall, and 3-6 in conference. UCR is tied for seventh place with UC Davis, a half game a head of ninth-place Cal State Fullerton, and a half game behind Cal State Northridge in sixth.

Sam Finley ran his streak of consecutive double-digit scoring performances to 12 straight games with 13 against the Titans and 17 against the 49ers. He is now averaging 12.3 points overall, and 16.8 points per game in conference play—the eighth highest average in the league in Big West competition.

Chris Patton ran his streak of double-figure scoring efforts to eight in a row with a pair of 12-point performances. He leads the Highlanders in scoring, averaging 13.2 points per game, and is making 65.6 percent of his field goal attempts over his last seven games.

Taylor Johns has also been hot of late averaging 16.3 points per game and making 62.5 percent of his field goal attempts over his last three contests.

As a team, the Highlanders are averaging 70.9 points in conference play which is the highest scoring average in the team's history since joining the Big West.

Hawai'i is 4-2 in conference since beating the Highlanders, and is sitting in fourth place at 5-4, one game behind Long Beach State in third. The Rainbow Warriors have split their last four games, all of which were played at home. They are coming off of a 69-60 win over Cal Poly.

Hawai'i boasts the highest scoring average in the conference at 81.0 points per game, and they have four players averaging in double figures—Christian Standhardinger at 17.5, Isaac Fotu at 15.8, Garrett Nevels at 14.0 and Brandon Spearman at 11.5. Fotu is also connecting on 61.7 percent of his shots from the floor to lead the Big West.

The Highlanders are 1-4 all-time against the Rainbow Warriors (view all-time results) and have dropped four straight.

UC Irvine is alone atop the conference standings at 7-2. The 'Eaters won their first four Big West games of the season before stumbling at home against Hawai'i and on the road at UC Santa Barbara. Since then, they have won three straight, including a 61-58 win over Long Beach State last Thursday, and a 61-59 decision at UC Davis on Saturday.

Irvine also brings one of the more potent offenses in the conference with them as they lead the Big West in field goal percentage at 47.9 percent while knocking down 35.6 percent of their shots from long distance. The Anteaters also boast the best field goal percentage defense in the league holding opponents to 38.5 percent shooting from the floor.

Freshman Luke Nelson, the incumbent Big West Player of the Week, leads a balanced UC Irvine attack averaging 12.5 points per game. Four other Anteaters average between 8.7 and 11.7 points. The Highlanders are 23-31 all-time against the Eaters (view all-time results). They won six of seven against Irvine from 2010-13, but the Anteaters have won each of the last two meetings between the clubs.

Pair Of Revenge Games vs. Hawai'i And UC Irvine Up Next For UC Riverside Men's Basketball

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